A Mariachi Musician Was Told to Sing for His Freedom as a Taunt Then Turned That Into One of the Most Powerful Fourth of July Performances of the Year

A Mariachi Musician Was Told to Sing for His Freedom as a Taunt Then Turned That Into One of the Most Powerful Fourth of July Performances of the Year

Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, a 20-year-old mariachi musician, was still in his traje de charro and on his way home from a birthday party outside San Antonio when he was stopped and handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 25th. He had just enough time to text his wife, a United States citizen, the words “Baby, I’ve been pulled over” before his night changed entirely. On July 4th, while still held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center roughly 55 miles outside San Antonio, he stood among fellow detainees and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” as red, white and blue handkerchiefs were displayed around him. The facility’s warden recorded the performance and plans to broadcast it in the detainees’ housing units.

@noticiastelemundo

Un joven mariachi fue detenido por ICE y relata las burlas que recibió de parte de los agentes durante su arresto.

♬ sonido original – Noticias Telemundo – Noticias Telemundo

Ibarra Castro arrived in the United States at four years old after his family fled violence in Mexico, where several relatives had been killed or disappeared. He has lived in the country for sixteen years, built a career playing the vihuela in Mariachi Los Galleros de San Antonio and married a United States citizen. He remained in his traje de charro for nearly 18 hours after his arrest before being allowed to shower and change.

The Taunt That Became a Movement In Support of Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro

When Ibarra Castro arrived at the detention center, a facility worker mocked him upon seeing his traje de charro, telling him that if he sang a song, he would let him go. News of the mockery spread quickly and mariachi performers across the country organized in response, launching a campaign called “Play a Song for Hebert” to demand his release. The campaign later posted a video of mariachi artists performing the national anthem in direct response to an ICE agent’s reported disbelief that Ibarra Castro knew the song.

Ibarra Castro told the San Antonio Express News that the situation captured something deeply contradictory, saying that people in power can treat detainees the way they have and still ask them to sing a song about a land that is free. Texas Democratic Representative Joaquín Castro has been advocating for his release and publicly condemned his treatment, having previously helped secure the release of a five-year-old boy, a 15-year-old student and a group of mariachi students held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center.

A Fourth of July With No Easy Interpretation

Ibarra Castro told Univision that singing the national anthem on July 4th was his way of expressing the affection he feels for the country where he grew up, while acknowledging he had conflicted feelings about the performance.

The San Antonio Express News reported that the warden recorded it and plans to play it in the facility’s housing units, meaning his audience was made up almost entirely of fellow detainees.

What ICE Has Said and What Comes Next

ICE confirmed that agents operating under the 287(g) program arrested Ibarra Castro in China Grove, Texas, citing records indicating he entered the United States without papers at an unknown date and time. The Department of Homeland Security said he will remain in custody while the government pursues his removal. His family believes his most viable path to legal status involves his marriage to his wife, who is a United States citizen, a process his detention has now complicated. His mother, speaking to Univision anonymously for safety reasons, said she fears for his life if he is deported to the Mexico his family fled when he was four years old.

Several federal courts have recently blocked the detention of immigrants who pose no threat to their communities, and a federal appeals court ruled this week that the government must hold a bond hearing within 90 days of detention. Whether that ruling affects his case remains to be seen, and his family, his group and mariachi musicians across the country are still waiting for an answer.

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